The transportation industry continues to struggle against increasing vehicle fueling and maintenance costs, increasing vehicle performance demands, and expanding emissions regulations from regulatory agencies. Modern vehicles are forced to operate using fuels having inconsistent quality and a significant amount of contaminants. Ultra-low sulfur diesel is one such fuel of poor or inconsistent quality. Once fuel is refined, it is stored in corroding storage tanks and pipelines and transported in corroding tanks having particulates and other contaminants certain to degrade the fuel quality. Storage in these tanks also causes bacterial growth, which accelerates fuel degradation. Due to flushing of the lines and tanks, water also becomes trapped in the fuel. The time and distance from refinery to vehicle fuel tank can be significant and thus further increases the likelihood of contamination from water and other impurities. As a result, vehicle fuel quality can vary as much as 30%.
This inconsistent fuel quality does not go without consequence. Inconsistent fuel quality adds to the maintenance costs of a vehicle. Diesel engine experts report that poor quality fuel is the most likely cause of engine failure. Additionally, poor fuel quality results in reduced performance and lower combustion efficiency. In the case of corporate and municipal fleets, the impact of reduced performance and, therefore, increased fuel costs of each vehicle across an entire fleet is significant. Engine failure and maintenance costs added to the fuel costs further aggravate the expensive issues caused by fuel quality for a fleet. Moreover, a lower quality fuel will release more VOCs such as NOX, HC, and black smoke into the atmosphere, thereby significantly impacting our environment. Fuel costs, vehicle maintenance costs, engine performance, and exhaust emissions represent major consequences to the reduced and inconsistent quality of vehicle fuel.